Ovid’s Amores, the Loves, are poems in a set of three books that detail an affair between the poet and a married upper-class woman named Corinna. The Ars Amatoria, the Art of Love, is essentially a manual of how to conduct romance, with the first two books describing to men how to seduce women, and the third book providing similar advice for women. His Amores and Ars amatoria have taken the brunt of the direct censorship as they are both books of love poetry that predominantly focus on sexual themes and showcase topics that are considered especially immoral, such as adultery and homosexuality. The erotic nature of Ovid’s poetry has been responsible for much of the opposition to his work. Ovid depicts a world where the gods are even more lascivious than the mortals who worship them! Part of a series of frescos, The Loves of the Gods, partially inspired by Ovid. Jupiter and Juno, Annibale Carracci 1597, Farnese Gallery, Rome. As the controversy over Ovid’s work has continued for nearly two thousand years following his death, his words are evidently considered so powerful that ordinary people cannot read them safely !
Another way in which Ovid’s works have been censored after his own lifetime is through various editions and translations that have glossed over or entirely eliminated the sections considered most inappropriate. Other instances of explicit censorship of Ovid include the Burning of the Vanities conducted by Savonarola in 1497, the Bishop’s Ban of 1599 in England, and a prohibition against importing the Ars Amatoria into the United States as late as 1930! Often these instances of direct banning correspond to times of growing influence and popularity of Ovid’s writing. While was the first to claim that Ovid’s writing was so offensive he needed to shield the public from it, he certainly wasn’t the last to ban Ovid’s work. Has been a highly influential yet controversial author from his own lifetime to modern times.
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